1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a ceramic valve with cold and hot water balancing functions, and more particularly to a new cold and hot water balancing valve structure which can fit existing standard ceramic valve specifications.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98
During use of a traditional cold and hot water balancing valve, the user may easily turn on a water tap by mistake and get hurt by the hot water, and the water temperature is hard to control due to unstable variation of the pressure of the cold and hot water. In view of such problems, some manufacturers have developed a kind of improved ceramic valve which is configured with a cold and hot water balancing valve inside its enclosure.
In the present market, there are plenty of ceramic valve products configured with cold and hot water balancing valves. There are also a number of prior patents related to this. However, there are still some problems and shortcomings to be improved.
The inventor of the present invention has long been engaged in the manufacturing and development of ceramic valve products, and, based on his experience, has discovered that, when a prior-art ceramic valve is configured with a cold and hot water balancing valve, its overall size and specifications, as well as the outer diameter and height of the valve will differ from common standard ceramic valves, and they typically become larger. Such a phenomenon can be easily understood from the following prior patent publications:
A first example is the patent for the utility model of “a water tap control mandrel (1)” (Republic of China Patent Certificate No. M386415). As shown in the drawings of this patent, in proportion, the valve height is larger than general standard ceramic valves. There is another difference: the cold and hot water inlet holes at the bottom of the valve are positioned in the center because the cold and hot water balancing valve is positioned in the center, while in a common standard ceramic valve, the cold and hot water inlet holes at the bottom are positioned on the side.
Other examples are the three patents for utility model of “a cold and hot water balancing valve” (Republic of China Patent Certificate No. M402952, M402953, M402954). As similarly shown in the drawings of these three patents, the cold and hot water inlet holes at the bottom of the valve are also positioned in the center because the cold and hot water balancing valve is positioned in the center. This is different from a common standard ceramic valve, in which the cold and hot water inlet holes at the bottom are positioned on the side.
Examples of the above prior-art structures are provided to demonstrate an opinion: when a ceramic valve differs from common standard ceramic valves in size, specifications, height or outer diameter, or the positions of the cold and hot water inlet holes, it means the specifications of the groove configured on the water tap body to house the ceramic valve, as well as the cold and hot water inlet flow passages need to be changed accordingly. As a result, when a prior-art ceramic valve needs to be fitted with a cold and hot water balancing valve, it will not match with existing standard ceramic valves or water tap products. That is to say, when a manufacturer wants to produce ceramic valve products with cold and hot water balancing valves, it has to make new moulds for manufacturing most of the components of the ceramic valve, and has to manufacture new water taps with new design of the valve tank and cold and hot water inlet flow passage, so as to realize the cold and hot water balancing function of the ceramic valve. So many added or changed manufacturing processes will obviously increase the cost of production and are not industrially economical.
Thus, to overcome the aforementioned problems of the prior art, it would be an advancement if the art to provide an improved structure that can significantly improve the efficacy.
Therefore, the inventor has provided the present invention of practicability after deliberate design and evaluation based on years of experience in the production, development and design of related products.